This page is filled with supplies that are nice to have on hand as you start doing crafts with your child. I love to find ways to use things that we already have around the house, but there are also some basics you need to buy as well.
As you get started, find a drawer, box, or cupboard that you can dedicate to craft supplies. You can even use a suitcase or large plastic tub. Having an organized place for all of your materials will help you know what you have when it is time for crafting!
At my house I am lucky to have a large craft cupboard... and then once it was filled I took over another cupboard. 🙂 On the top shelf of my tall cupboard, I keep teaching/learning books and things like staplers and hole punchers. I use large and medium sized plastic tubs to hold different materials. My tubs are categorized by what is inside them- things to attach (glue, tape, velcro), paint, brushes, foam (foam stickers and sheets), and paper. I also keep a tub for the stickers I collect, random ribbons/decorative items, pom poms and tissue paper, etc. I keep my cupboards locked with child locks.
I also have a little blue container with a handle that can easily come out while we craft. I keep small materials that I use often in there- tape, glue stick, scissors, dot markers, pencil, crayons, etc.
I also keep a large bin for completed projects that I want to save. Most completed projects are hung in our "art gallery" (front of the cupboard) for a few weeks, then we snap a photo and recycle them. Sometimes there are unfinished projects or ones we especially like, so we save a sample and put it in our box. In one of my cupboards I also fill the bottom shelf with objects we save- toilet rolls, egg cartons, pasta boxes, etc.
Things to collect:
aluminum foil
aluminum pie plates
bottle caps
boxes
bubble wrap
buttons
cardboard
cereal boxes
clean, empty food cans
coffee cans with lids
coffee filters
containers with handles
cotton balls
cotton swabs
diaper wipe containers
egg cartons
fabric scraps
felt
greeting cards (used)
jars and lids (empty)
magazines
metal cookie tins
milk cartons
old mittens, socks, and gloves for puppets
old shirt for art smock
paint sample chips
paper bags
paper muffin cup liners
paper plates/cups/bowls
paper scraps
paper towel/toilet paper tubes
pine cones
plastic milk jugs
plastic yogurt, margarine, and sour cream containers
popsicle sticks
rice
rubber bands
sandpaper
shells
shoeboxes with lids
soda bottles (empty)
stickers
string
tissue paper scraps
wrapping paper scraps
Things to buy:
beads (large)
cardstock paper (different colors)
chalk
child-safe scissors
contact paper
clothespins
colored pencils
construction paper (lots of colors)
crayons
Elmers glue
felt sheets (different colors)
foam sheets (different colors)
food coloring
glitter glue pens
glue sticks
googly eyes
hole punch
index cards
liquid starch
magnet strips
masking tape
paint brushes (foam)
paper doilies
paint Do-A-Dot art markers
pencil sharpener
pencils
pens
pipe cleaners
pom poms
ruler
sponges
stapler
stickers
straws
tape (double-sided and regular)
tempera paint
tissue paper
tongue depressors
washable markers
Ziploc freezer bags